Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica Letters//1968-69 Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Clark shared an intense artistic dialogue throughout their careers. Excerpts oftheir correspondence below trace the evolution oftheir thinking, From interactive sculptural objects to group events that addressed external relations (Oiticica) and interior psychotogical states (Clark). For both artists, a Key term was vvivéncias or lived experience: the body's heightened sensory presence as authentic, immediate, and resistant to ideological capture. 26 October 1968 Dearest HéliCactaGério bel Since Caminhando [Walking 1963], the object for me has lostits significance and iF still use it iti so that it becomes a mediator for participation. With the sensorial gloves, for example, i gives the measure of the act and the miraculous character of the gesture, with its spontaneity, which seems to have been forgowen. tn all that Ido, there realy isthe necessity Ofte Huss body, su that it expresses itself ois revealed as in a first {primary] experience. For me it doesn't matter whether | am avant-garde or placed within new theories. only be what am and stil ntend to produce those films in which man sat the centre ofthe event, For me, the stones that {come across or the plastic bags ate ine and the same: they are there only to express a proposition | dant see why, would_negate the object simply because we have constructed. it It i important that it should be expressive. If Feffin my life today the state that you feel and define as hallucinatory, itis because through these propositions I have learnt to feel these same moments, and if had not done so, perhaps 1 woul have never discovered these same moments that ate fantastic. What | want i 0 avoid schematizing anything, and each day eat a ney ‘pear’ 10 see if’ good ot not, Mario's [Pedrosa] tem, as always is excellent, but for me i is not about the moment of chance but the ‘fruit’ of the moment. Fruit in the fruit sense, such i the flavour and the sensuality of eating, of living this moment. also found it very good when you said that already in the rudimentary element the open structures are liberated despite te fact that we use it precisely because we ni longer believe in the aesthetic concept, At the end your text is splendid with regard tothe poetic lived experience [ivénciapoética) and the subjective charge only Ido not belive, as l mentioned above in the marginality of who propos 1M1o//ARTISTS' WRITINGS a _ ‘what's great is this diversity of positions, since as long as there is contradiction and negation there is also confirmation of a reality bal Thousand of kisses to this new HélioCaetaGério! Clark 8 November 1968 Lyi, my Dear el Your letter, as always, was fantasti. This issue of being deflowered by the spectator i the most dramatic thing: infact everyone is, since beyond the action there is the moment-consciousness of each action, even if this consciousness is ‘modified later on, oF incorporates other lived experiences [vivéncias), This business of participation is really terrible since it is what is actually inconceivable that manifests itself in each person, at each moment, as if taking possession: like you, 1also felt this necessity of killing the spectator ot participator, which is a good thing since Tt creates an Taterior dynamic with {gard tothe relation. Contrary to what has been happening aot lately. it shows thot there is no aestheticization of participation: the majority creates an nlenicisn of the relation or ofthe idea of spectator participation, to such an ‘extent that it has let me with doubts about the idea itself, The other day with | Mario} Schemiverg I discussed this issue alot over here: he thinks infact that ihere is no participation, or this issue, which is perhaps ue to his exaggerated renctalization with regard to this. What I think is that the formal aspect of this issue was overcome some time ago, by the ‘elation in itself, its dynamic, by the ‘incorporation of all the lived_experiences of precariousness, by the hon- orporation_of all the_lved experiences of precariousness, formulated; and sometimes what appears to be participation a mere detail of \\, because the artist cannot in fact measure this participation, since each person ‘experiences it differently. This is why there is this unbearable experience [vivencia} of ours, of being deflowered, of possession, as if he, the spectator, ‘would say; ‘Who ate you? What do I care if you created this or not? Well, | am hiete to modify everything, this unbearable shit that proposes dull experiences, ‘6 00d ones, libidinous, fuck you, and all ofthis because I devour you, and then J shit you out; what is of interest only I can experience and you will never ‘evaluate what I feel and think, the lust that devours me” And the artist comes ‘out of it in tatters. But itis good, It is not, as one could imagine, a question of ‘hasochism, its just the true nature of the business. It’s funny, something 1 experienced the other day has, to a certain extent, a relation to all of ths, 'm not \we if you'll agree: the idol, the artist person who uses himself in order to lenx/Oiticiea//Letters//111rr a express. Caetano [Veloso] for example, when he sings and does all of that, is totally devoured, in an almost physical sense: once coming out from Chacrinha [music show recorded for TV), 1 saw in the corridors millions of students, adolescents, in an incredible fury, grabbing him to ask for autographs, but in reality it was not only that. The true, profound meaning ofall of that was of a veritable coitus ~ Caetano reacted passively, relax [originally in English), as you ‘would say, but the whole thing scared me profoundly, such a collective fury in contrast with the noble and delicate intentions of Caetano: a poet, ultra sensitive, all fa sudden is thrown info an arena of wild beasts, but beasts not in the sense of animals from which you have to defend yourself physically more than psychologically, but human-beasts, like me and you, children almost, each ‘one projecting their own psychological charge in a terrible manner. Something ‘worse happened: at that crap song festival, during the Sao Paulo preliminaries that 1 watched on TV, the fury of the organized fan-clubs in the audience functioned as acclamation, equal but in reverse, but ultimately booing and applause become identified with devouring, The audience screamed, booed like Thave never seen before, to the point that it was no longer possible to sing. ‘When the song was selected to go on to the next stage, then it was even warse: it was as ifthe intellectual intention of destruction became conscious of itself. I Caetano had been at people's reach he would have been destroyed in a horrendous manner: everyone shouted queer, queer, queer, and threw objects, bits of wood at him and the Mutantes {pop/rock band inspired by the Beatles and psychedelia] and then they tured their backs to the stage. Then the “Mutantes also turned their backs to the audience and Caetano stopped singing and said the most dramatic and profound things I have ever seen, not due to the words themselves but in the sense of their closure and what they represented at that moment. It was incredible, and do you know what it reminded me of? The scene with Abel Gance's Napoleon in front of the tribunal with that travelling ‘that Gance made, imitating the movement of the sea, remember? This is what is Cerrible: the disjunction between the always noble, etc, intentions of the artist and the fury of the participatory relation. I believe that that moment revealed ‘many things for me, especially the ‘well nourished’ appearance of people, of the destructive fury, as if that moment of lack of repression was a chance for destruction, which to an extent it always is, But it is a good test ofthe validity of the proposition: to not accept passively is more important than to accept everything, and in this dynamic of the relation new possibilities arise which, even if painful, are essential I believe that perhaps in Venice you experienced this in relation to the work-spectator-creator, and the will to kill him, to push aside people's unbearable lust; this is important within the dialectics of the issue: because giving does not push aside the taking; on the contrary, it 112/ARTISTS' WRITINGS, stimulates it, in an erotic way too, As Marcuse would say, it liberates the E1os that is repressed by repressive activities: the relax in participation is a non repressive activity, which confuses and liberates truly unpredictable forces, and inthis, I believe, you base yourself on your awn experience, which is also highly revolutionary; this is the great current issue. I believe that our great innovation is precisely the form of participation, that is, its meaning, which is where we differ from what is proposed in super-civilized Europe or in the USA: we have here a far rougher scene, pethaps, because we hhave reached these issues in a more violent manner. For example, your black with white line phase, or even the one before that, even the breaking of the frame, this type of painting contains a sui generis dramaticality that did not occur even in Argentina, since the Argentines, to a certain extent, are more civilized, jore European than us: Brazil is a form of synthesis ofthe peoples, races, habits, Where the European speaks but does not speak so loudly, except in the universalist, academic fields, which are not those of ‘cultural creation’ but those of closure. Creation, even in Tarsila (do Amaral] and especially in Oswaldo de Andrade,’ possesses a subjective charge that differs extremely from the rationalism of the European, this is our ‘thing’? that Guy Brett was able to understand so well and that the Europeans will have to swallow, in fact with appetite since they are fed up with everything and it looks as sf that saturated civilization is drying their imagination, bel Kiifisses, Hélio 14 November 1968 Dear Helio fol As fat as the idea of participation is concerned, as always there are weak artists who cannot really express themselves through thought, so instead they ilusttate the Issue, For me this issue does indeed exist and is very important. As Yyou say, itis exactly the ‘elation in itself that makes it alive and important. For ‘example, this has been tie issue in my work since the sixties; if we goDacK even further to 1955, I produced the maquette forthe house: ‘build your own living space’ But it isnot participation for participation’ sake and it isnot a fact of Saying like lio Le Parcs group [GRAV: Groupe de recherche d'art visuel] does, that att is an issue forthe bourgeoisie, It would be too simple and linear. There {is no depth in this simplicity and nothing is truly linear. They negate precisely ClenbyOiticica//Letters//113eS —_— a, what is important(Ghought) think that now we are these who propose, and through the proposition there should be thought, and when the spectator «expresses this proposition, hei in eality gathering the characteristic ofa work of at of ll times hough and expression And for me al ofthis is connected. from the option, the act, fo immanence asa means of communication, and the lack of any myth exterior to man and more so, in my fantasy it connects itself with the ant-universe where things are there because it happens now. It would be perhaps the first occasion in which consciousness of the actual absolute i achieved in the now. Another thing that am very impressed with is today's youth who, like us, want to give themselves meaning from the inside towards the outside as opposed to, as it has always been, from the outside towards the {nside: True participation is open and we will never be able to know what we Troms which snd wold eae, not by the yal bt yee ate inthe sense that he throw hisenn stone, My eperiene of deomering sot git the same as yours Ii nt myself who is delowere but the propos ill And wien ery abou this phenomenon its nt beeause el wounded in my persona inept, bu Beesuse they rin everything a I have fo start constructing the work ll ver aan On the conta 1 dont even pot on my tasks and elothes but hope someone will come slong and give meaning the propestion andi fs therefore more importa Infact think that now {am proponng the sume ype of ss at etre Was stl achieved i the je the empty-ful the frm and its own space the erat. Only now. wih these nw sesoi masts man wh ncvers hme al his pln, and even when he fills the plastic bags (what is important now is also to make the mas he fects that hei astng himself in the sense that heen the i and the bag tales shape) Tis sme space tat comes ou of in, she becomes conscousot hs oan bodily space tat goes beyond him, aes orm that would flee acta pac around fm. or instance el tat ste formating these Ize plastic ngs with ny on Tangs, when ing dwn onthe orn my at Could ouch, wth spe etre the cing, whic sno fs an & mete high eis asi hod crested an eB of Space that belongs to me and that embraces me. It would be the most organic Breathe with me [1966] yet less usa! Man when parting on these mask ums himself int an ahem beast since the mass his append not ike the fist ones where here was in iain tiga es as ae eae ae binds with rea crops More nd mare (Mire Pedros entence functions for a As you se, particpation i ineessngy irene THe no Tonge the objeto expres any concept but the specter Who reaches, more and more profoundly, his own self. He, man, is now a ‘beast’ and the dialogue is now with himself, to the extent of the organicity and also the magic that he is able to borrow from within himself As far as Caetano's problem is concerned, itis different since he is affected as a person but isan idol; he isthe ‘opposite of myself, who no longer possesses anything, not even as a creative artist who provides what is still a total oeuvre that in the end is my self. Each day loose more of my apparent personality, entering into the collective in search of a dialogue and accomplishing myself through the spectator. And the crises, When they arrive, appear in a more brutal manner, much mote painful, yet they pass by quicker than before... bel Thousand of kisses and do write! Clark 27 June 1969 Iygia, my love Ll Your letter: I very much liked the ideas and incredible relations concerning you, that | wrote about in another part of the enormous text that | prepared forthe syinpusiuin | ‘mentioned. I'll translate a section and | am sure you will love it, since, in fact after I wrote it, I discovered in Marcuse’s most recent book a chapter in which he proposes a ‘biological society’ that would be unrepressed and based upon a direct chain of communication, the same thing I had thought about when writing about your issues; see below in a certain passage of the text the most recent experiences of Lygia Clark have led her to fascinating proposals as she discovered that certainly her communication will have to be mote of an introduction to a practice that she calls cellular: From person to person, this is an improvised corporal dialogue that can expand into a total chain creating something of an all encompassing biological entity or what | would call a crepractice* The idea of creating such relations goes beyond that of a facile participation, such as in the manipulation of objects: there i the search for what could be described as a biological riwal, where interpersonal relations are enriched and establish a communication of growth at an open level, I say open level, because it does not relate to an object-based communication, of subject ‘object, but to an interpersonal practice that leads towards a truly open ‘communication: a me-you relation, rapid, brief as the actual act; no corrupted. benefit, of interest, should be expected ~ observations such as “this is nothing” or “What is it about?" etc, should be expected; an introduction as initiation is 114y//ARTISTS: WRITINGS ClenkyOlticiea//Letters//115necessary. The elements that are used! in all of these process-based experiences, a vital process, ae those that are a part of it instead of being isolated objects: they are orders in a totality..." i AKiss for you Hélio 1 nlicaetacéio ~ composite name for Ho Oticica, Caetano Veloso and Rogério Duarte sugpestng that Heo was ath momen immersed nis keas an actvities respectively with {he singrfcomposer andthe graphic designerfpetfcompose (Translator) For further reading on the collaboration between Ottis, Veloso, Duarte and others sce Topica: A Revolution in Sracitan Cutt, ed, Carlos Basualdo (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary AtSH0 Paul: Casse Nay, 2005). 2 The modernist poet Oswaldo de Andrade (1890-1954) was the author of polemical texts on Bravilian cultural identity which inuenced these atts, particularly his notion of ‘cultural annals in theAnthropophagie Manifesto publised in Revista deAntopogi, No.4 (Sto Paulo, May 1928), translated in Dawn Ads, Artin Latin Americ: The Moder Ea, 1820-1880, (New Haven: Yale University Pres, 1989) 3. ‘Mat slang meaning approximately ‘ontext: [Translator 4 ‘Cre fom create, se: Citi's concept of Creeisur. Translator) Letters tween ya Clark and Halo Otic, reprinted in Luciano Figured (ed yaa Clark Heo tcc: Cartas (196474) (Rio de Janeiro: Etora UFR. 196) 61-2, 69-73, 2-6, 121-2, Translated by Michael Asbury, 2006, 1g//ARTISTS WRITINGS Graciela Camevale Project for the Experimental Art Series, Rosario//1968 1968 saw an irruption of politicized participatory practice in many countries, and took a particularly dramatic form in Argentina, The Experimental Art Cycle was a series of actions in Rosario, many of which worked on the audience as a privileged artistic material. Graciela Carnevale's project represents the most extreme example of this approach. In the years that followed, Carnevale, like many of the artists involved in the Cycle, abandoned art for teaching, The work consists of first preparing a totally empty room, with totally emply walls; one of the walls, which was made of glass, had to be covered in order to achieve a suitably neutral space for the wark to take place. In this room the Participating audience, which has come together by chance for the opening, has been locked in. The door has been hermetically closed without the audience being aware of it.I have taken prisoners. The point is to allow people to enter and fo prevent them from leaving, Here the work comes into being and these people are the actors. There is no possibility of escape, in fact the spectators have tio cholce; they are obliged, violently, ro participate. their positive or negative reaction is always a form of participation. The end of the work, as unpredictable for the viewer as itis for me, is nevertheless intentioned: will the spectator tolerate the situation passively? Will an unexpected event — help from the outside ~ rescue him from being locked in? Or will he proceed violently and break the glass? Through an act of aggression, the work intends (0 provoke the viewer into awareness ofthe power with which violence is enacted in everyday life. Daily we submit ourselves, passively, out of fear, or habit, or complicity, to all degrees of violence, from the most subtle and degrading mental coercion from the information media and their false reporting, to the most outrageous and scandalous violence exercised over the life of a student. The reality of the daily violence in which we are immersed obliges me to be aggressive, to also exercise a degree of violence ~ just enough to be effective ~ in the work. To that end, | also had to do violence myself. I wanted each audience ‘member to have the experience of being locked in, of discomfort, anxiety, and ‘ultimately the sensations of asphyxiation and oppression that go with any act of unexpected violence. I made every effort to foresee the reactions, risks and dangers that might attend this work, and I consciously assumed responsibility for the consequences anc! implications. | think an important element in the Camevale//Proet for the Experimental Art Series, Resatio//117, en ee